UNDERATED for LEGO Ideas: January 2016

Underrated, highly underratedUnderrated, gonna take it to the topUnderrated, highly underratedUnderrated, I’m never gonna stop

I had ideas, ideas they really hatedIt made me sick, but it got me motivatedI knew that this was not where I was meant to beThey wanted me to quit but they were too afraid to leadThen one I day I checked my votes, there was almost nothing thereI asked for support, they laughed and say they didn’t careMy project reached 100, I decided to call timeThat’s when I decided I would help others’ projects climb…

Welcome to this month’s very belated UNDERATED: the new name for Underrated CUUSOO for LEGO Ideas. If UNDERATED had a theme song it would have the above lyrics, and would very suspiciously share the same tune and cadence as a song called Highly Motivated by Willie Jolley. (Unfortunately I can’t find a sample.)

Along with the new name comes a new logo, and I’m well aware that I’ve spelt “underrated” wrong. I might get it right next time, or I might decide keep the misspelling to make this feature distinctive. What do you think of the logo though? Leave your thoughts in the comments, or help me come up with a different one.

In any case, here’s my UNDERATED selection from LEGO Ideas for January 2016.

There are a billion and one projects on LEGO Ideas featuring some kind of vehicle, but here we have an original concept by mc2k13: a small fleet of vehicles that look remarkably similar to my own SUV model. All of the vehicles look robust and suitable for the task at hand.

I would love to see this as an actual set, and there’s no excuse as to why it shouldn’t be one: no weapons in sight, no signs of imminent danger, and you can have your own minifigures protected by the security detail… or maybe have them do the attacking!

Big shout out to mc2k13 for this project being a breath of fresh air. In fact, I might even help promote it in Bricks magazine – because only 44 supporters have thought similarly.

You can’t really claim to like minifigures if a) you don’t have a sizeable collection of them, or b) you haven’t tried to recreate one as a mech. This actual build seems to do an excellent job of turning the iconic minifigure into a giant posable mech, and the fact it’s minifigure controlled puts the icing on the cake.

Again I would really like to see this become an actual set, not least because it offers so many customisation possibilities. Of course, the project requires your support to become a reality, and right now there are 149 people behind it.

No doubt inspired by a visit to the factory in Billund, which I was able to do last year, Jonas went HAM on this model of the building: it actually divides into three separate vignettes, each representing a different part of the complex. Of course, it comes with minifigures representing people at the different levels of the production process.

This would make a great gift or purchase for factory visitors, although I’m not sure if I’d even open it if I came into one! The presentation – allegedly so important for people, apparently – can’t be faulted either.

This project is doing particularly well at the moment, with 230 supporters in just over a week. Let’s help get it over the edge!

Where some people might see a loose collection of models and pieces, I see a very interesting concept in this project: exploring what goes on in a garden.

I’ve seen gardens done very poorly, even in official sets, so I think something like this would work. Whether you’re interested in growing vegetables, maintaining the grounds or climbing up trees, there’s something in this project for everybody – and you can move things around to your liking, incorporating as much as you want into your own layout.

We have 188 supporters for this concept at the moment, and I think it should have at least another 9,000.

As well as being a simple yet particularly good-looking vignette, there’s a back story to this project. As I understand it, it’s one half of an annual gift exchange between two people, and this vignette is a rendition of an office belong to the recipient.

Although I think there should have been a little more to the story (if there is more), I think this would go down well if it became official – and there’s plenty of scope for it to be embellished, either by LEGO or the people who own it.

We have 49 supporters for this project at the moment, but let’s see what we can do.

Here’s a very interesting concept for a set, and one that I think would work as a Creator set, or one of those yellow box sets you’ll find at LEGO stores. Here we have two virtually identical 8×8 vignettes, each with an assortment of small parts – except there are a few differences.

Much like the Time Cruisers theme of old, this could be a great opportunity for LEGO to offload random leftovers. It could also serve as a talking point in the workplace, in school and wherever else, as people try to spot all the differences. Of course, there can be as many or as few differences as people like – this is one place where we can actually rattle off that tired old saying, the only limit is your imagination.

There are only 29 supporters of this project, which will hopefully change now that I’ve pointed those things out.

In the wake of the successful Labyrinth Marble Maze, all of a sudden people started having ideas about LEGO based puzzle projects… not as many as research institutes, mechs or things related to busting ghosts, but they became much more noticeable. Well in steps Josh, bringing a new concept to the table.

The very first thing I thought when seeing the main photo of this project was, “I hope it comes with a video.” Fortunately there is a video on the project page, where this actual built project is demonstrated. It’s when Josh whips out the Mindstorms motor and turns it from a hand-operated puzzle to an automated one that the idea was well and truly sold.

It’s been a couple of days into the process for this project, and it has 89 supporters at present – but if 10,000 supported the marble maze and it won, there’s no reason this shouldn’t stand a chance.

That’s it for this month’s belated UNDERATED for LEGO Ideas, and it’s been good to get back into the process, as well as coming across some gems in the Discovery tab. We’re going to be doing it all again next month, and also in Bricks magazine.

Remember: to qualify for a feature in UNDERATED, projects must have 500 supporters or less, and priority is given to original, non-IP based projects. If you have one you’d like to have featured, drop me a line.